UPMC, Highmark agree to 10-year contract

June 24, 2019News Extra

The health care providers signed a 10-year contract to begin when their existing consent order ends in late June, according to a press conference held by Attorney General Josh Shapiro and a UPMC news release. The new contract makes all UPMC medical facilities available to people with Highmark insurance coverage, Shapiro said.

The new agreement, as Shapiro described it, appears to resolve a substantial sticking point for Highmark customers as the two groups' split loomed at the end of June. Highmark insurance will be accepted at UPMC hospitals, such as Children's and Western Psychiatric, without issues like mandatory pre-payment plans.

The deal came to fruition after a judge rejected an attempt by Shapiro earlier this month to extend the consent order currently in place. In the press conference, Gov. Tom Wolf said he doesn't think the deal would've happened without Shapiro's intervention.

“This new contract is between two parties, not the government,” Shapiro said.

The men said they believe it's the longest agreement UPMC has ever signed with an insurer.

“This is double what normally happens in these things,” Wolf said. “It's normally five years, and the attorney general was actually able to get them to agree to 10 years.”